FORESTRYSA

The Hon. I.F. EVANS (Davenport) (15:13): Thank you, I was waiting for the call. My question is, again, to the Treasurer. Does the Treasurer believe the AAA credit rating is at risk if the sale of the harvesting rights for South Australian forests does not proceed, as the Treasurer alluded to in a previous answer, and the debt is not restricted to the budgeted figure of $7.5 billion?

The Hon. J.J. SNELLING (Playford—Treasurer, Minister for Employment, Training and Further Education) (15:14): Well, we will have to examine what our options are if the sale doesn't proceed, but certainly it is important to reducing the state's debt. The most important thing in protecting our AAA credit rating, at the moment, is making sure that our debt levels are kept to appropriate levels consistent with the AAA credit rating and, certainly, the proceeds from the sale will assist us in doing that. If it doesn't go ahead, then we might have to look at what our alternatives are, but we will do that at the time.